Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen

     As a longtime journalist who's written roughly twenty books, Bob Greene knows how to structure a story really well. And World War II had plenty of those to choose from. But not many people know this one; that North Platte, a smallish city in the southwest Nebraska sandhills, operated a canteen for troop trains during the war as a way to keep the soldiers' morale up. Every day. For years. Coffee, fried chicken, sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, cake - all this, with rationing going on. It was a community-wide effort, as people came from a hundred miles around to volunteer. In Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen (New York: William Morrow, 2002), Greene tells us this tale, by inserting himself as a character searching for this history of what once was then, and no now longer can be, in our society of the 21st century.

     He chose that format because he was interested in this concept himself, and wanted answers. So it was reasonable that readers would also be interested. The trains still go through North Platte today - it's the home of the biggest train yard in the country - but passenger trains are a thing of the past. Once the haven of every type of ne'er-do-well imaginable, now the only trace of vice he could find was a bikini contest at a sports bar....that had no entrants. The community was hosting a regional softball tournament at the ball fields north of town, which was a major point of interest. But downtown was deserted, of course - in stark contrast to all the stories gleaned in interviews with those people who helped out with the Canteen in some way or another. Now everyone shops at Wal-Mart, which feels familiar, because we're all used to it. Greene muses on these and other points a good while.
     Back then, though, it all began around 1941-ish with Miss Rae Wilson, who had a brother in the army, Nebraska National Guard, I think it was. Word got passed around somehow that they would be passing through North Platte for a minute, so everyone in town, basically, came out to cheer them on and thank them for serving the country. It was the National Guard, but it was the Kansas National Guard, not Nebraska. Well, no matter, these boys needed good food as much as anyone else. So instead the people gave their cheers and rations to the boys on the train, who quickly left. So Rae wrote a letter to the editor of the Daily Telegraph newspaper, suggesting that such a custom might be a good idea to become a permanent thing - their bit of pitching in to the war's success, by raising the morale of the troops. For several years, every day without fail, there were volunteers to meet every troop train, until about eight months after the war ended. Sandwiches of every type imaginable(ham and pheasant were remembered especially fondly), coffee, cake, fried chicken - all freely given. In the interviews, many of the men who had stopped at the Canteen still teared up at the memory, it was so welcome. It got to be one of those subjects of common interest over in Europe, the reception soldiers received in North Platte.
     There was a nice piano over in the corner, so sometimes sailors or soldiers would play it, while others would dance with the teenage girls on the platform. Some of those girls stamped and mailed letters for the boys that wanted to send a word home. There were a lot of people who got married because of the Canteen in one way or another. A boy selling papers once ran into his long-lost cousin there. Some of the men who survived the war moved to North Platte in gratitude.

     None of that would happen today, because it simply couldn't. There aren't really any communities like that any longer, that band together for common projects, unless it's disaster cleanup after a tornado. That mindset, of "keeping up morale," is entirely alien now. It got lost somewhere in history of our society. Single men hauled supplies to the depot. Housewives used their allotments of sugar rations for angel food cakes for the soldiers. Little girls went without the pretty shoes they dreamed of in store windows. None of that would happen today, not for complete strangers you'll never see again. And that's sad, which is where the modern-day part comes back in, to contrast the war years to the new millennium. Provides a lot to think over and about.

#Wesley

Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity by Tim Challies

★★★★★

(2015)
  
Tim Challies gets a LOT done.  He gets the right things done.  Matt Perman interviewed him in What's Best Next on how he organizes a typical day.  When I read the interview, I wished it was longer and more detailed.  So I was thrilled when I heard he had written an entire book on productivity!  It has turned out to be an answer to my prayer that I would be abundant in good works.  

Tim defines productivity as "effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God."  Keeping this definition in mind, I worked my way through this short book, pausing to complete the Action Steps before moving on.  I had already written my mission statement while reading What's Best Next, but I was stuck on how to set up my day/week based on it.  Through Do More Better, Tim Challies took me from "stuck" to "doing".  I completely reorganized my Evernote, set up Todoist and downloaded Google Calendar.  Everything is so USEABLE when Tim explains it!  I am able to think about my responsibilities in a more organized way!  

As I write this review, I have been using the system for five months and it has made "doing good" smoother, more flexible, and more likely to get done.

--Jatina  :) 

What's Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done by Matt Perman

★★★★★

(2014)

When I started What's Best Next I had never heard of the author, never heard of the book, and had no idea my life was about to be changed.  I simply chose it at random as an audio book to listen to in the car.  I did listen in the car, and the idea of gospel-driven productivity appealed to me so deeply that when the book ended, I immediately started it again.  Then I bought a physical copy of the book and poured over it with a highlighter.

Matt Perman clearly and logically uses scripture to show that

"there is no distinction between learning how to be productive and learning how to live the Christian life altogether, for both are about how we are to live in this world for the glory of God.  The way we go about handling our email, making appointments, running meetings, attending classes, and running the kids to where they need to go are not distinct from the everyday life of sanctification that God calls us to but are themselves a fundamental part of it.  We are to 'be wise' in them just as we are to be wise in the things that directly pertain to salvation; indeed the way we go about them is an expression of our Christlikeness and sanctification."

He explains how productivity is about getting the right things done and how good works are anything you do in faith, even tying your shoes.  I am just going to keep reading and keep listening to this book until these truths have soaked into my soul and start oozing out my actions.

--by Jatina  :)

Yo, Sacramento!

     From the minds behind Yo, Millard Fillmore! (Will Cleveland, Mark Alvarez and Tate Nation) comes the follow-up about state capitals, Yo, Sacramento! (New York: Scholastic,1994).

     Did you know that in the Green Mountains, a gigantic varmint is shaving away ground with his mountain peeler? (Montpelier, Vermont) That the Concorde is sometimes ridden by a nude hamster? (Concord, New Hampshire) Or that the rich lion listens to his collar radio inside his comfy den of fur? (Denver, Colorado) The historical information is right there again on the left-hand pages across from the cartoon, along with important details like state size(by square miles), post office abbreviation, the official bird, tree and flower of each state, as well as the date it entered(or reentered) the Union. And there's nifty trivia in the margins.
     This book also contains helpful quizzes to make sure the information sticks, just like its predecessor. And the states are grouped by region, which is interesting(though confusing, how those regions were decided on). The Jeopardy!-style quiz section is back, in addition to a name-that-state-outline page(which is no problem at all if you read Laurie Keller's Scrambled States of America.)

     This book is hilarious, and incredibly useful. (Seriously, how else would you know that the capital of Kentucky is Frankfort, or the capital of Pennsylvania is Harrisburg?) Check it out ASAP, especially if you have kids.

#Wesley

Yo, Millard Fillmore!

     Written by Will Cleveland and Mark Alvarez, and illustrated by Tate Nation, Yo, Millard Fillmore! (Brookfield, Connecticut: Millbrook Press, 1993) is an instantly-useful and highly entertaining way to memorize, in order, all the presidents from 1 to 42(43, 44 and 45 came after publication) through bizarre images and terrific cartoons.
     Cleveland was on a road trip with his family, the car coated in the heavy silence of boredom, when he suddenly had a great idea: Why not have everybody memorize the presidents? So he checked the list in an encyclopedia(this was before the internet) and over the next couple trips he, his wife and kids came up with entertaining off-the-wall images to make things more bearable. And that's how this book was born.

     We start with a washing machine big enough to wash a ton of clothes. (Washington, of course, but you have to start everything somewhere.) And from there we get escaping mad suns (Madison), a minivan coated with hair (Van Buren), great ants (Grant) coming out of toilets and more. There are helpful quizzes to review your newfound knowledge every five Presidents or so, which solidifies the information while disguising it as a game, which of course is the best method for teaching something so that it'll stick. Skimming the pages, this will take about twenty minutes to finish, and you'd be surprised at how useful it is for knowing the answers to Jeopardy! questions. If you have more than twenty minutes to spend, then there is a short biographical sketch of each President, along with the years he served and his birth-to-death timespan.
     After the cartoons are finished, there's a Jeopardy!-style quiz section to make sure you paid attention to the biographical information, and some memory tricks for remembering years served and which number each guy was. (For every President from John Tyler [10] to William McKinley [25], the last two digits of their term can be figured by multiplying the president's number by four, then adding one.) Then there's a copy of the the oath of office, and the order of succession to the throne after the vice president. (The Secretary of Education is sixteenth in line, which seems pretty far back.)

     It's amazing how often I still use the memory tricks in this book to remember presidents, and capitals, especially(but that post is coming). Read it ASAP, especially if you have kids.

#Wesley

The Scrambled States of America

     Laurie Keller's Scrambled States of America (New York: Henry Holt, 1998) is one of my favorite picture books of all time. (Which is saying something, because there's a lot of really great ones out there.) This was her first book, after working several years as a Hallmark greeting-card designer.

     It's narrated by a man named Sam, who opens by telling us that he bets that we've heard it all, but that not many people know this story. Ohio and Virginia rush up, both wanting to tell this story, but Sam tells them to get back in their places. Then he begins: "It was just your basic, ordinary day in the good ol' U.S. of A., and all the states were waking up, having their first cups of morning coffee, and enjoying the beautiful sunrise." (All the states, that is, except for Kansas.) How do we know this? Well, because he tells us so: "I'M NOT FEELING HAPPY AT ALL!" he yells. His very kind best friend Nebraska asks him what's wrong. "I don't know, I just feel bored. All day long we just stand here in the middle of the country. We never GO anywhere. We never DO anything. And we NEVER meet any NEW states!" So Nebraska thinks a while, deciding that Kansas might have a point.
     So then Kansas has the idea to invite all the other states to a get-to-know-you party, they enlist their neighbors Missouri and Iowa to help plan, and "those wacky little Midwestern states planned the biggest party ever," according to Sam. (Keller throws in wonderful little background details like Nebraska's disgusted expression while licking stamps, and Iowa's uncertainty how to spell Connecticut. Guess he didn't read Yo, Millard Fillmore!)
     At the party, Tennessee drops his fork at least three times and Nevada and Mississippi fall in love. Late into the evening, Idaho and Virginia have the idea to switch places, so each can see a different part of the country. Everyone else loves this idea, and everyone quickly makes plans to swap with someone. (This works out better for some states than others. Indiana, Alabama and New York all switch places with California, for example.) But as Roy, a minor character from Peanuts, once said of Charlie Brown: "He's the type that makes a good temporary friend." The states realize this wasn't the best arrangement, as Alaska has Michigan's thumb tickling one side of him and Oklahoma's Panhandle jabbing into the other. Arizona's hair keeps getting destroyed by the waves where South Carolina used to live.
     Even faster than they made the first trip, everyone wanted very quickly to go home as soon as they could. (So in Virginia's bus, West Virginia and Ohio play Go Fish to pass the time. Colorado hikes, Indiana skateboards ) There's lot to talk about when they get home; Alaska's joke-telling skills, Minnesota explaining how awful sunburns are, and samples of food were exchanged to give to neighbors. The final two pages are filled with quick sketches of landmarks interacting, like Minnesota's 10,000 Lakes visiting the Grand Canyon. It's really entertaining, and a great way to wrap up the story.

#Wesley

Mockingjay

     First, there were The Hunger Games. Next everything was Catching Fire  as the districts of Panem began to rebel against the Capitol. Now in Mockingjay (New York: Scholastic, 2010), it's all-our war.

     Before writing novels, Suzanne Collins began her career as a TV writer for shows like Little Bear and Clarissa Explains It All before becoming the head writer of Clifford's Puppy Days. So the elements of a good story are there, certainly. Because it's a war, the stakes are simple, and everyone understands wars, so it becomes easier to write about that having to create, then immerse, your readers into the world of the story. So Mockingjay lacks a lot of the tediously-recited snippets of backstory in favor of just telling the story. Because it's a YA novel, and the primary readership target is teenage girls, Katniss STILL worries a lot about the whole Peeta-Gale thing, which is tiresome, but that element has been shoved pretty far into the background. Instead, the role and power of the media during wartime is emphasized, which is a really overlooked, but very interesting, aspect to focus on. I like that.

     District 12 has been destroyed, but roughly eight hundred of their citizens were evacuated to District 13 to begin again. Katniss becomes the Mockingjay, a mascot for the rebels to promote unity throughout the districts, which eventually works. This is accomplished through propaganda short films broadcast through the nationwide TV network. Meanwhile the Capitol has been holding Peeta hostage until it was no longer necessary, using his well-known eloquence to try to halt the destruction. It doesn't work, and so they allow the rebels to recapture him. Reprogramming his mind from the Capitol brainwashing takes quite a while. Gale's hunting practice leads to him becoming one of the major rebel strategists; willing to go to extreme measures in order to win victories.
     On a TV shoot/mission deep in the Capitol itself, Katniss pulls yet another of her audibles and directs her squad to President Snow's mansion to assassinate him. Things go very bad very quickly, as they tend to do in combat zones, and most of the members of her group are killed. Bombs disguised as presents explode in the middle of a group of children, and then a bunch of rebel medics rush in to help. (Prim is part of this group, on her way to becoming a doctor.) Then a second collection of bombs rain down, killing the medics and just about everyone else, causing enough mayhem that the Capitol is taken over by the rebels.
     Katniss gets severely burned and goes into a deep depression over losing Prim, which makes sense, given how much she cared for her, and their mother's reaction to their father's death. President Snow has been jailed by rebel President Coin, awaiting execution by Katniss' hand since that was one of the terms for becoming the face of the rebellion. They run into each other, and Snow explains that if he could have, he would have simply escaped; that the bombing was planned by Coin. Katniss realizes that the strategy of using the medics as pawns was something Gale would plan, and that Coin is plotting to simply take over Snow's position, leaving much else about the government unchanged.
     At the last second during Snow's public execution, she shoots Coin instead. Snow commits suicide, Katniss tries to, and the government is in chaos, eventually putting itself relatively back together. She is judged insane, and thus freely acquitted of Coin's murder, and she is relocated back to the rebuilding District 12 with Haymitch to keep an eye on her.  But recovery takes a very long time. Eventually, things get better. She works with Peeta and Haymitch on writing a book to keep the memories alive of their friends who died in the war, and twenty years later she's married Peeta and they have two children, a son and daughter. Both still suffer from flashbacks, which the kids don't completely understand, but Katniss hopes that their generation will learn from the sacrifices hers made.

     During times of war, the rules are different. And so sometimes there isn't a right answer, as Captain America: Civil War has just shown moviegoers. Those decisions can leave large wounds in those involved, which take a long time to heal. Sometimes they don't, completely. But life goes on. Friends and allies can disappear, for one reason or another. The ending of this series is decidedly mixed, which I like, because it's realistic. Lots of people hate the ending for that reason, but isn't that part of what fiction is supposed to do? Paint as true a picture as possible, so that the audience will learn something from it? The ideas behind this series were great. The setting is engaging, and the plot interesting. But because of her choice of POV, particularly in narrator, almost all of those wonderful background details are overshadowed. Which is frustrating. This is my favorite of the trilogy by far, though. The pacing plods along often, particularly after the massive Prim-killing explosion, but that allows us to feel the weight of this conflict and the choices made on both sides. There's a lot to chew on, unlike the earlier two.

#Wesley